I attempted to report on this whisky back in early March. The result was esoteric hyperbole. While I still agree with every last word of that post, I'm going to try to describe this drink in more solid terms.

Churning on the West coast of Scotland, the Corryvreckan is the third-largest whirlpool in the world. It has consumed ships, sailors, and a Norse king over the years. It's a powerful natural phenomenon and a great Gaelic name (roughly "cauldron of the speckled seas) even though it sits far north of Islay, between Jura and Scarba.

Ardbeg first released Corryvreckan (the whisky) in 2008 for sale to their committee members. Following that successful launch, they brought it out for the general public in late 2009. It filled the gap in their range once held by the now-depleted Airigh Nam Beist bottling.

Bill Lumsden from Ardbeg has revealed distillation dates for some of the whisky within and much of the spirit had been aged in French Oak casks. Other than that, they're keeping the recipe a mystery.

The vapors! It's steaming up!

Like my Uigeadail dram, the Corryvreckan from this tasting came from a sample I purchased from Master of Malt.

(Tasting Tip: If you're doing a multi-whisky tasting and Corryvreckan is amongst the selection, try the Corry LAST. It's a strong heavily-peated behemoth that does a number on the taste buds.)

Round 1 -- neat, 25+ minutes in the glass before tasting

The color is a light gold with a darker hue at its heart. The nose begins with a strong aromatic peat. Then tar, leather, and cognac-dipped cigars. Underneath all that is an overripe fruit note along with vanilla ice cream and the inside of a toffee shop. The palate? It caramelizes the senses. Smoldering peat meets burnt sugars. Sweet cream & cinnamon & seaweed in a bonfire. Dried fruit, mulled wine, hot rum. A TCP Milk Dud cocktail. It all barrels through the finish. A big oceanic note meets rum. Cinnamon candy mixes with honey-roasted band-aids. The sweet and peat last equally long long long.

Notes: Mmmmmmmm.

Round 2 -- neat, almost an hour after the first round

The nose holds a very nice oaky note (and I usually don't like generic oak notes). There's also a nice brandy/cognac thing going on. But mostly it's coffee grounds, fresh soil, molasses, the ocean, boat diesel (in a good way!), angel food cake on fire, and something deep & peppery that I can't quite name. The palate keeps its Big Peat push. There's burnt wood, espresso with molasses, smoked caramel sauce, lemons with brown sugar, peat cookies with white pepper. PEATNESS reigns supreme in the finish. Underneath that runs the ocean, some citric sweets, and fruity sugary oak. And it's as if it never ends...

Notes: ... ... ...

I know I got a little obscure towards the end there, but things were getting really fine by the end of this Taste Off. Can I recommend this? Well, take a look at the nose notes. If those sound good to you, then this whisky will treat you well.